Comparison of the subgingival microbiota of periodontally healthy and diseased adults in northern Cameroon.

Our study is the 1st report on subgingival microbiota in adult Cameronians. The aim was to investigate, using the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization technique, the prevalence of 18 oral species in subgingival plaque samples obtained from sex- and age-matched Cameronian adults with and without periodontal destruction. We also compared cultivation and the Affirm DP test with the checkerboard technique in their capability to detect some selected species among the 18. 21 adult periodontitis patients and 21 periodontally healthy subjects were examined and the results were compared statistically. Each periodontitis patient had at least 4 pockets of > or = 6 mm depth, while the healthy subjects had no sites more than 3 mm deep. Results of the checkerboard analysis showed that significantly (p < 0.05) more periodontitis patients tested positive for most of the 18 bacterial species. The Gram-positive species Actinomyces naeslundii, Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus sanguis, known as microbiota of healthy sites, were detected significantly more frequently in the healthy group. Cultivation demonstrated P. gingivalis, B. forsythus, A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. intermedia and F. nucleatum in significantly lower %s of patients as compared to the checkerboard technique. Furthermore, the Affirm DP test detected P. gingivalis and B. forsythus in significantly fewer patients than did the checkerboard technique. A. actinomycetemcomitans was detected in 52.3% of the patients by the latter technique while the Affirm DP test failed to detect the bacterium in any of the samples. Overall, the results of the present study confirm the importance of the screening method and indicate that the prevalences of the investigated putative periodontal pathogens and beneficial species in the healthy and diseased adult Cameronians were similar to those reported for adults in the West and in some developing countries.